Tag: Fiction

Book Review: Cinderella’s Crimes – Kelsey Josund

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In today’s review post, I have the pleasure to share my thoughts on a unique fairytale retelling that held my attention throughout. Cinderella’s Crimes is loosely based on the classic fairytale, but quickly deviates and develops a world of its own.

What’s more exciting is that I have the privilege of sharing my thoughts on the book’s re-publication day; it was originally released under the title Pretty Deadly. I hope you are as excited for this book as I am to tell you about it. Let’s check out the details of the book and then dive into my review!

 

Cinderella’s Crimes – Kelsey Josund

Genre: Fairytale Retelling

Pages: 230

Audience: Young Adult

Publisher: Kelsey Josund

Publication Date: 31 Oct 2023

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Goodreads – Cinderella’s Crimes

 

Cinna would quite literally kill for the throne.

For years, Cinna has been forced to serve her wealthy cousins rather than attend society events alongside them. She has waited for the chance to prove herself and exact revenge. When a ball at the castle is announced, promising to bring many powerful people to town, she seizes the opportunity to strike.

She bets her best friend, Johann, a small-time thief and con-man, that she can land a greater score the night of the ball than he can, and they embark on parallel heists. But as their plots unfold, things begin to unravel: by the end of the night, the castle’s on lock down, a duchess is dead, a mansion has burnt to the ground—and Cinna hasn’t even stolen anything.

Or has she captured something far more valuable than gold and jewels?

 

My Thoughts

 

Plot

A complex heist is the feature of this retelling, and it far surpassed my expectation in details and intrigue. There is no way I had anticipated the events that unfold in the book; it is a real page-turner! If you are a follower of my blog and keep up with my weekly Sunday Summary updates, you will know that I read Cinderella’s Crimes in just a handful of days earlier this month. If that doesn’t prove my point, then I don’t know what does!

Regardless of the intricacies, the plot is easy to follow and engaging to the reader. The narrative is also full of plot twists, with us not knowing what will happen next at any given moment.

Who scores the greatest haul on the night? Well, I’m not going to tell you that! You’ll just have to read the book for yourself!

 

Characters

Cinna, unlike her fairytale counterpart, is a cold and calculating individual. Subjected to a fall of grace in her family as a result of mistreatment by her stepmother and step-siblings, she plots her revenge every day. In order to break out of her desperate circumstances, she plans the most daring of heists, and sets herself against her friend Johann in scoring the greatest haul on the night. Cinna is a complex character and a fun perspective to enjoy this story from.

Johann is also an interesting counterpart to Cinna. Like Cinna, he is far from altruistic, and this isn’t his first criminal venture. It’s by far the biggest yet, however, and he rises to the challenge! With little time to prepare, Johann is incredibly resourceful and determined to best Cinna, even though he suspects deep down she’ll trump him. He’s determined pull it off anyway.

The dynamic between the two adds intrigue to an already high stakes story. I enjoyed their complicated relationship at every stage of the book.

 

Narrative Style

The short and concise chapters make this already compulsively readable story even easier to read.

The chapters intertwine between Johann and Cinna’s perspective, combining two different angles of the heist into one comprehensive story. As these two seemingly separate parts come together into the full picture, we’re surprised by how their daring endeavours unravel in tandem.

 

Summary

Cinderella’s Crimes is a dark twist to a classic fairytale with high stakes, daring adventure, and a shot at revenge that is best served cold!

Are you intrigued by Cinderella’s Crimes? Would you like to read it for yourself?

 

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Sunday Summary – 29th October 2023

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Good evening from a rainy and dreary island! But that’s okay – as I’m inside, cosy with a cup of coffee and ready to dive into publishing this week’s Sunday Summary! As always, let’s take a look at the posts I published earlier in the week.

My first post this week was a Top Ten Tuesday feature. This week’s theme was ‘atmospheric reads’, and I had several different genres and bookish vibes to share as part of the post. If you haven’t checked it out already and are looking for reading inspiration, look no further.

On Thursday, I shared my review as part of the recent blog tour for Warrior Prince. I enjoyed this historical fiction novel which features Vikings in an Eastern European setting, as opposed to the English variants. It’s a fun, action-filled adventure, and if you want to find out more, my review is here.

 

Books Read

 

Killing For Company: The Case of Dennis Nilsen

I left off last week’s Sunday Summary post having concluded my ‘current reads’ at that time (I mentioned in that post that I had about 20 minutes of Surrounded by Idiots left to finish, which I did. I didn’t feel like that warranted a section in this Sunday Summary post.)

So, I picked up my next read on the TBR, Killing For Company by Brian Masters. You would like to think that based on the title and subject matter, it would be obvious that this book isn’t for the fainthearted or those with a sensitive stomach. However, in case that’s not clear, let me emphasise that now. This book isn’t for the fainthearted or those with a sensitive stomach. 

In this book, we explore the life, history and grisly murders Nilsen fully admits to committing between 1978 and his arrest in 1983. In the latter stages of the book, we start to address some of the psychological elements and potential diagnosis for Dennis as a means of explaining his actions… both the murders he did commit and for those he failed and/or chose not to go through with.

It has been a really interesting book, although I am sure it is not for everybody. As of this post, I have read 85% of the book and I have an estimated reading time of one hour to complete it. I’m hoping to get that done tonight!

 

The Flood

I have been off work this week – something I haven’t mentioned before now I don’t think. I have been busy though. In addition to catching up with jobs in the house, I have been out and tidying up the garden ready for winter. Whilst I’ve been doing these jobs, I have taken the opportunity to make progress with my second audiobook of the month.

The Flood is actually written by a local author, and it is for this reason I added it to my reading list. It is also the book I pulled out of my TBR jar this month, and I’m enjoying the story so far. There’s definitely a lot more going on under the surface of this narrative that I am yet to discover, and I’m looking forward to unravelling it all. The audio is also very good, so I can recommend the format!

As of this Sunday Summary update, I am coming up to 50% of the way through this audiobook. I may be back at work from next week, but I will be finding any opportunity I can to continue listening. 

 

Books Discovered

I have added a book called Unmasked by Ellie Middleton to my reading list this week. One of my LinkedIn connections has liked content by Ellie on a few occasions, and as a result, I have seen it too.

I’m interested in picking up Unmasked as it looks at ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence. I have a friend who was diagnosed with autism only when she was an adult (not surprising for girls given the ‘official’ symptoms or flags are those typically exhibited in boys and take no account of girls learning to mask them). As somebody who is interested to understand more about neurodivergence in general, I’d like to take a look at this book.

 

Coming Up…

With the end of October and the beginning of November falling into next week, you can expect my usual busy schedule.

My first post of the week though will be a review for Cinderella’s Crimes by Kelsey Josund. I have a deadline to share my review on Tuesday, so that’s when you can expect my thoughts on this fairytale reimagining that I read last week.

After that post has gone live, I will be kicking into gear with my usual monthly wrap-up post, and then my monthly TBR for November. mMy intention is for the wrap-up to go live on Thursday and my TBR on Saturday. I hope you can join me for both of those!

And, as always, I will be back at the same time next week with another Sunday Summary update post.

Now, I don’t know about you, but my plan is to take a cup of tea to bed and finish my current read.

What are your plans for this evening?

 

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Blog Tour Review: Warrior Prince – J.C. Duncan

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It’s time for another book review and I’m excited to share it as part of the blog tour for Warrior Prince. I personally chose to pick up the book as I wanted to read something with a Viking theme. At the same time, I wanted something a little different from other books on the market focussing them in a Saxon setting.

Warrior Prince does just that, and more besides! Before I get into the nitty-gritty, I will firstly say thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources, and to the author, J.C. Duncan. I appreciate the opportunity to review the book as part of the tour.

Now, let’s get to the bit you are here for – the book!

 

Warrior Prince – J.C. Duncan

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 355

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Publication Date: 23 Oct 2023

Rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

 

Goodreads – Warrior Prince

Prince. Mercenary. Exile.

The lost throne of Norway must be won in foreign lands.

1030 AD

Some men are gifted a crown. Others have to fight to claim it.

Exiled from Norway, Harald Sigurdsson, brother to murdered King Olaf, must battle mercilessly for survival in the lands of the Kievan Rus.

His brother’s legacy gifts him a warband of hardened warriors and entry to the court of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. By his wits, sword and skill in battle, Harald must learn not just to survive but to triumph.

He fights for glory, for fame, and to regain his family’s battle-stolen throne. But his greatest

challenge may not come from battlefield foes but from those who stand by his side.

The first instalment in a remarkable story of an exiled boy’s incredible journey to become Harald

Hardrada; The Hard Ruler and The Last Viking.

Perfect for fans of Matthew Harffy, Peter Gibbons, Bernard Cornwell and Christian Cameron

 

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/warriorprincesocial

 

My Thoughts…

 

Plot

Warrior Prince is full action and daring. Harald Sigurdsson is exiled from his homeland. In order to build reputation to one day claim the throne, he sets out with a warband of battle-hardened men loyal to him. His travels take him to Prince Yaroslav the Wise, and from there, across territories contested and hard fought for by many… including Harald and his men.

The battle scenes and conflict are the main drivers of the plot, and they are the scenes I most enjoyed in Warrior Prince. They are the essence of life as a Viking warrior. To emphasise their importance, they are very well written to immerse us in each battle as they play out. The danger of every moment is apparent, and has us questioning whether our favourite characters are safe throughout.

However, there is more to the book than endless battles. Harald, in the service of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, has to deal with court politics – something he is not used to or adept at. In his quest to make a name for himself and become a leader, he has to learn when words serve better than swords, and who to watch to avoid a knife in the back…

  

Characters

Harald is already established at the beginning of the book as a capable man with a weapon. What becomes apparent quite quickly is that he has very little knowledge or experience when it comes to diplomacy; if he can’t use his sword to get his way, he’s lost.

It’s a character arc we see develop over the course of the narrative. It doesn’t seem to come naturally to him. But, Harald proves his determination to become a leader by learning from his shortcomings as they present themselves. He and his warband are tested repeatedly, and by individuals out to discredit or outright kill them. As a result, we see this repeatedly over the course of the book!

 

Setting

It was for the book’s unique setting that I wanted to pick it up in the first place! I have read a lot of Viking fiction based around conflict for and within English land. And I have enjoyed those books very much. However, I was excited for the promise of something a little different. Warrior Prince is set across Eastern Europe and the Nordic countries. It’s not a setting I have read before, and consequently, it provided a unique and compelling narrative.

Naturally, there is far greater scope for travel and new scenery… and of that we see plenty. Harald and his band travel extensively over the course of the book, and we get to see and experience more variety in characters, setting and culture.

Each location, and even the narrative whilst traveling, is finely balanced between description and action. There is plenty of detail to paint a vivid description in a reader’s mind whilst not bogging down the action within the plot.

 

Narrative Style

Warrior Prince is told in the form of a recollection of one of Harald‘s right-hand men. When I realised this was the format of the book, I got really excited. It is a style I have loved in fantasy books such as Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind, R. R. Virdi’s The First Binding and Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire. All of these books got a five star rating from me. Consequently, I went in to this book with high expectations. Warrior Prince met them! 

It is an interesting narrative style, because it makes us question the perception we get. Is the story being told from a wiser and more rounded individual than that same person in their youth? Or, are their perceptions of events coloured through time and/or outcomes? For example, would battles in this book be considered foolhardy in circumstances of defeat, where they are painted as phenomenal feats when recalled after victory? I suppose we will never know. But, if you enjoy thinking about that sort of thing, then it adds a layer of complexity to the narrative. Do we believe all we are told?

 

Summary

Full of action and intrigue, Warrior Prince gives us everything we’d expect from a Viking novel, but in a new setting and with new challenges to face. Unable to know what is immediately around the corner for Harald and his men, the book keeps us readers on the edge of our seat throughout!

Firstly, having read books in the genre by Bernard Cornwell, Matthew Harffy and Peter Gibbons, fans will enjoy Warrior Prince. Secondly, the book has its own unique spin on the genre and deviates from these authors in a way that makes it readable and standalone in its own right. So do it – you won’t regret it!

 

Author Bio

J. C. Duncan is a well-reviewed historical fiction author and amateur bladesmith, with a passion for Vikings.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JCDuncanAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JCDuncanauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.c.duncan/?hl=enn

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-c-duncan

Top Ten Tuesday – Atmospheric Reads

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In today’s Top Ten Tuesday post, I’ll feature a variety of atmospheric books that I’ve read and would recommend to readers. The books vary in genre and the type of atmosphere they foster; a good number are spooky reads that would be ideal to pick up this month. However, I wanted to broaden the scope from that so there is something here for all readerships… so fantasy, historical and cozy readers… there are books here for you too!

Let’s check out the books that made it to today’s Top Ten Tuesday list!

 

Spooky Reads

 

The Trail

The Trail is a book I read recently and it has been released at the perfect time to catch on to readers who like to pick up something spooky in October!

If you would like to read my review of this book, then I’ll provide a link to it here. In summary, it’s a small-town and sinister read involving an old disappearance case. When Jess goes back to where her mother disappeared she finds resistance at every turn. Long buried secrets try to stay buried…

 

Pet Sematary

When a family move to an idyllic house on the edge of a wood, they get far more than they bargained for.

Pet Sematary is a great read for fans of horror. I read this book when I was relatively new to the genre and fell in love with it very quickly! It fits the ‘spooky read’ aesthetic perfectly with its dabblings in topics like life and death… or… something else.

 

Imaginary Friend

Most parents dismiss the ramblings of children and their imaginary friends… but sometimes you shouldn’t. Imaginary Friend is a chunky read, yet over its page count it slowly weaves a darker tale into what begins a seemly innocuous child’s life.

I’d especially recommend this to fans of Stephen King as well. I found the method and pace of storytelling quite similar.

 

The Taking of Annie Thorne

The Taking of Annie Thorne gave me chills at the end, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. The Taking of Annie Thorne is my second C.J. Tudor read. I thought The Chalk Man would be a tough act to follow, but apparently not! Both were candidates for this Top Ten Tuesday post and I would honestly recommend either.

This horror/thriller also involves children, and features the titular Annie Thorne, who goes missing for 48 hours. However, when she returns, her brother swears she isn’t the same girl who disappeared that short time ago…

This book is very cleverly written to keep readers guessing at every revelation. It’s a dark, sinister narrative… and I loved it!

 

Fantasy/Dystopian Reads

 

The Hunger Games

All my fantasy reads in this section of my Top Ten Tuesday post have dystopian themes. I confess that The Hunger Games came to mind quite quickly as I’ve watched the first two films on Sky in the last week or so. They happened to be on and I enjoy them. I now want to revisit the books though!

The oppression and stark discrimination, paired with brief glimmers of hope are integral to the setting, characters and plot of this series. That’s why I’m featuring them in this post. They are so well done that the reader cannot help but route for those oppressed to thrive!

 

Red Rising

Red Rising is actually quite similar to The Hunger Games… so if you’d like to read the premise of that book in a sci-fi setting, then Red Rising is perfect for you.

Darrow and his kin risk their lives every day to mine a precious resource that will one day help colonise the planet. However, he learns that he and his people are being lied to and kept in effective slavery to those of higher caste.

In order to exact revenge, he infiltrates his oppressors and plots to take them apart from the inside.

 

Crowfall

This final book in The Raven’s Mark series is fraught with desperation, and the setting, plot and characters all come together in a last ditch attempt to save humanity. Even the Gods are losing power to a mightier force than they. What hope does Ryhalt have of stopping the incoming tide of minions of the Deep Kings?

That’s the premise of this dystopian and war torn setting… and the atmosphere of danger and desperation is palpable throughout.

 

Historical fiction

 

As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow

In As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow, there is stark contrast between the love a woman has for her home country as it was growing up versus the war ravaged landscape she struggles to live in every day.

It’s easy to fall into a trap of indifference with foreign news, but it is books like As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow that make us open our eyes to the devastation. Salama works in a hospital, stitching up the countless innocent victims caught up in the war. She is far from safe. Hospitals are targets.

In this harrowing tale of a fight for survival, the stress of the war and the choices Salama has had to make in her duties literally haunt her.

 

Historical – Non-Fiction

 

The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in World War II to escape the anti-Semitic treatment her people are exposed to. They are ultimately discovered in their annex and their fate is sealed. However, until such time, we relive the frustrations of living in a restricted lifestyle and confined space with multiple people. The underlying fear punctuates each entry, highlighting how it became a part of Anne’s (and her family’s) everyday life.

What makes the atmosphere most stark is that the words in Anne Frank’s diary spell out this young woman’s experience of real life events.

 

Cozy Reads

 

The House in the Cerulean Sea

Finally, I’ve chosen a completely different tone to round off this Top Ten Tuesday post.

The House in the Cerulean Sea, in summary, is about a man who doesn’t really belong in his world. As a special social worker, it is his duty to ensure the safekeeping of magical children. In his line of duty, he is sent to assess the most top secret orphanage. He expects to find chaos and danger – not the meaning of family and belonging.

Those are my atmospheric reads in today’s Top Ten Tuesday post. Have you read any of the books I featured today?

 

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Sunday Summary – 22nd October 2023

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I’m back with another Sunday Summary update for you all, and I have plenty of reading progress to catch you up on! Have you had as good a week as I have?

Before we get into my reading updates for the week, let’s do our usual quick catch up on what posts I’ve shared in the week. If you’ve missed any, now is your opportunity to catch up.

My first post of the week was a discussion post outlining my favourite and least favourite fantasy tropes. Since I shared a detailed look at my favourites recently, I included them on this post only as a comparison to my least favourite… as some are linked.

On Friday, I detoured from my usual feature posts to share my review of The Puppet Maker. If you are partial to a police procedural or mystery/crime novel, I strongly recommend checking this out!

 

Books Read

 

Warrior Prince

I left off in last week’s Sunday Summary update having read the first 10% of Warrior Prince. A decent start, but it was just that. I’d only picked up the book for the first time that morning! This week, I dived into the book in earnest as it is the next book due a review here on my blog.

I’m a big fan of historical fiction, and I’ve been reading a lot of Viking based fiction set in modern day England. Warrior Prince differs from that format – it is instead set across Nordic and Eastern European backdrops. I’ve enjoyed the change of focus, as it isn’t an element of Viking history that I’ve considered before. Of course I know that they would have set out to other countries other than the UK; in fact, my own little island is one of such places. It’s not something I’ve seen very much of in terms of availability to read though.

The book is full of action, and is an interesting insight into the history of what we now know as Eastern Europe. The scope of locations throughout the narrative are quite varied, going to show that things like borders and restriction of movement were completely different. The one constant since time began is war… and that is something we see a lot of in this book. The conflict and the politics, together with the action, made for an interesting read. If you want to read my full thoughts on the book, you don’t have long to wait!

 

Cinderella’s Crimes

The next book I picked up this week was Cinderella’s Crimes by Kelsey Josund. The tale is a reimagining of the traditional fairytale, only Cinna is not your average step child turned housemaid. She’s a bitter woman. Cold and calculating, she’s devised a way to turn her life around and get what she thinks she deserves – and it begins with a heist.

The plot is very well thought out and paced throughout the book. Not everything is revealed to us readers straight away either, keeping us guessing. Although Cinderella’s Crimes is one of the shorter books I have read this year, it doesn’t lack for detail. As you can only expect with two individuals running parallel heists, there is a lot of action and moving parts to juggle. The said, the plot was very easy to follow and was, overall, engaging.

I’ll be publishing my review of this book at the end of the month, so I hope you can check this out too!

 

Surrounded by Idiots

With just 20% left of Surrounded by Idiots, I left this until last. In fact, as of writing this paragraph, I’m listening to the last 26 minutes of the audio. I’ll have it finished by the end of the night edit: finished whilst editing this post.

The book has been really interesting in both understanding various personality types. More specifically, my personality type has proved interesting, and how I am perceived by others. I’m very strongly yellow, meaning I’m quite a social person and am prone to talk a lot. The funny part is that yellows tend to talk about themselves… which I can’t really argue about in this Sunday Summary now, can I?

This has built upon some knowledge I already had from a work course, and it’s helped me consider with more time and detail how to understand and work with different people.

 

Books Discovered

Dominion

I added one book to my reading list earlier today, having had a chat with Chris this afternoon about current reads. He is currently reading Dominion, and I like the sound of this alternative fiction.

The book explores what British life could be like had the country surrendered to the Germans in WW2. Chris is really enjoying the book, and I like historical fiction, so I definitely want to take a look!

 

Coming Up…

My first post of the week will be shared on Tuesday next week. With a review going live later in the week, I want to keep this post quite light in topic. With this in mind, I plan to share a Top Ten Tuesday post and share my top atmospheric books with you!

On Thursday, I’m taking part in the blog tour for Warrior Prince. If you like the sound of the book above, I’d love for you to take a look at that post when it goes live!

As always, I’ll be back this time next week with a Sunday Summary post. Until then, have a great week; I’ll see you in my Top Ten Tuesday post.

 

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Sunday Summary – 15th October 2023

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It’s a chilly Sunday evening here as I’m writing this Sunday Summary post. We’re finally getting into the season I enjoy… although I’m a little disappointed I’ve had to bring out my electric blanket already. Okay, let’s be honest, no I am not! It’s very toasty…

Before we take a look at the books I have been reading over the course of this week, let’s do our usual recap the other blog posts I have shared with you earlier this week.

The first of those blog posts was a book review for Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology. I read and enjoyed the book in Summer last year. Having had mixed results with Neil Gaiman’s writing before, I wasn’t sure how this was going to go down. It is a relatively safe subject though, and it worked out really well. If you want to know my thoughts on the book, then please go and check out my full review.

The second post I shared earlier this week was my First Lines Friday. In that post, I completed the challenge of featuring a book that I intend to pick up later this year. It’s currently pencilled in on next month’s TBR, in case you’re interested. If you are as big a fan of fantasy as I am, I strongly recommend you check out that post and see if you can recognise the introduction!

 

Books Read

 

Surrounded by Idiots

I started this week having already made 40% progress in Surrounded by Idiots the week prior.

I’ve made considerable progress with this audiobook over the course of the week. I have particularly enjoyed listening to it whilst working on a long-standing cross stitch project. I’ve been working on that project on and off for probably over two years now. I like to have something to occupy my hands, but keeping my mind free enough to be able to enjoy audio at the same time.

All of my comments from last week about this book still stand. The topic is keeping my interest and is even teaching me a few things about how I can approach different people. Perhaps I will omit mentioning to some of my work colleagues that I’ve learned how to approach them from a book of this title. Whilst my immediate work colleagues could take the joke, I’m not sure about others!

As of this Sunday Summary post, I have just less than 20% left of the book to complete. On Audible, it’s indicating a listening time of just over an hour and a half; that should be very easy for me to achieve on the basis that I’ve listened to a lot more this week already!

 

The Puppet Maker

The first physical book I picked up this week was read on my Kindle in full. I have picked up The Puppet Maker in order to review the book as part of the upcoming blog tour next Friday.

The Puppet Maker is a police procedural that will appeal to fans of murder, mystery, and a disabled protagonist. Alana finds herself in the midst of multiple complex cases, one involving a small child and a missing mother, an unusual disappearance and then finally, an apparent murder.

I enjoyed this book and the opportunity it gave me to dip my toe back into the police procedural genre. The unique perspective and characters within made the book all the more interesting. Especially after the 50% mark, I couldn’t put the book down! If you want to read my full review, then be sure to check out the blog tour post going live on Friday.

 

Warrior Prince

Lastly, I made a start on Warrior Prince this morning. As of this Sunday Summary update, I am just 10% into this book. I am also reading Warrior Prince for an upcoming blog tour post… although this one is not going live until the week after next.

I can’t really say a whole lot at the moment as I’ve only just started the book. It’s made a good starting impression though, so I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the story over the next few days.

 

Books Discovered

I’ve got a good run going here. Once again, there are no new books on the TBR this week to share with you!

 

Coming Up…

I’ve already mentioned one of the posts that will be going live next week, but let’s take it from the top.

The first post I intend to share next week is a discussion post. It’s well documented on the blog that I’m a big fan and reader of fantasy. In my discussion post, I am going to share some elements of fantasy that I love, and some I don’t necessarily enjoy… at least not all of the time.

On Friday next week, I’ll be taking a break from my usual Friday features in order to bring you that blog tour review of The Puppet Maker by Jenny O’Brien.

As always, I’ll be back here next Sunday with another Sunday Summary update post for you all. I’ll get you up to speed on the reading I’ve picked up over the week and what’s coming up on the blog next!

Until then, happy reading and I’ll see you soon!

 

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Book Review: Norse Mythology – Neil Gaiman

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Today’s book review is for a relatively short book I enjoyed by an author I’ve had a mixed experience with in the past. I felt comfortable enough with picking this up as the topic of the book is relatively safe territory – Norse Mythology. That’s exactly what the book is called too!

Let’s share the details!

 

Norse Mythology – Neil Gaiman

 

Genre: Mythology

Pages: 283

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Date: 06 Mar 2018

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Goodreads – Norse Mythology

Neil Gaiman, long inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction, presents a bravura rendition of the Norse gods and their world from their origin though their upheaval in Ragnarok.

In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki—son of a giant—blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.

Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Through Gaiman’s deft and witty prose, these gods emerge with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.

 

My Thoughts

 

Plot

Norse Mythology, as you would expect if you are familiar with the genre, is made up of lots of short stories. The range of stories is vast, and as a result, we get to see a multitude of characters throughout this relatively short book.

As can only be expected in the realms of Gods and tricksters alike, the stories are fantastical and entertaining. As someone who hasn’t read too much in the way of North mythology in the past, this particular book made for a great gateway. I definitely intend to pick up more north mythology in future to explore the genre in detail.

 

Characters

Thor, Loki and many several well known Norse Gods have their place in this book. I believe fans of Marvel really enjoy this book as we see a lot of the characters they also feature. I confess I’m not overly a Marvel fan, so I can’t comment on this myself. However, I am reliably informed by other bloggers!

With one of the main characters, being a terrible trickster, it’s oddly surprising that conflict and tension make up a significant proportion of the book.

 

Narrative Style

Given the style of the book, the mini stories within are broken up, and as a result, make for some nice and relatively short chapters with clean breaks between. It makes the book easy to pick up and put down, whatever your reading pace or level of commitment.

Having struggled to read books by Neil Gaiman in the past, I found this format went a long way towards making each chapter nicely digestible… that and the subject matter anyway! Along these lines, Norse mythology is a book to enjoy in the moment. It’s not the kind of book you need to heavily invest in to be able to enjoy.

 

Summary

Norse mythology is a short book, so there’s only so much possible to say about it. To summarise:-

Compulsively readable and unputdownable, I enjoyed Norse Mythology and exploring a new regional mythology. My experience of the book was that I read and enjoyed it pretty much over the course of a weekend. It’s not a long one, so it is quite approachable to pick up by any level of reader. Despite having had less positive experiences with Neil Gaiman books before, I was excited to pick up this book at every opportunity I could!

Have you read Norse Mythology or any other books by Neil Gaiman? What did you think?

 

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Sunday Summary – 8th October 2023

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Hello lovely reading friends – I’m back with this week’s Sunday Summary update!

Thankfully, I have a good deal more reading progress to share with you in today’s Sunday Summary than I have of late. But, we’ll get to that a bit later. Firstly, let’s take a look at the blog posts I’ve shared throughout the week so far.

My first post of the week was my Monthly Wrap-Up for September. I had a reasonable month in terms of the books I picked up, although overall reading progress was down. If you’re interested in that recap and taking a look at the books I read last month, I’ve provided a link to that post.

On Friday I shared my Monthly TBR with you. In my September wrap-up, I considered setting myself fewer books to read a month. But of course, I’m not doing that. At least, not straight away. I’ve decided to try and incorporate more audiobooks into my reading list as a way to manage the page count I set myself. Well, that’s the plan for this month anyway. We’ll see how it goes! As always, if you’re interested in checking out my reading list and haven’t done, so yet, there’s a link above.

 

Books Read

 

Priest of Bones

In last week’s Sunday Summary, I was just three chapters into Priest of Bones by Peter McLean. I had picked up the book last Saturday and made this cursory start. This was the book I focused my attention on this week.

The vast majority of reading progress was in the latter half of this week. In fact, I finished this book around midday today before going to my mum and dad’s. At the time I wanted to share my weekly update on Instagram, I didn’t know whether I would still be reading Priest of Bones or picking up the next book on my list, The Puppet Maker. With where I ended up, I actually decided on posting both of these photos, as I will be picking up The Puppet Maker tonight.

Priest of Bones was a decent read, but personally, I didn’t think it lived up to expectation. There is a lot of action in the book, and there are elements of political conflict too.

I can’t really put my finger on why this wasn’t a four-star read. I generally only rate books in whole stars, but some books like Priest of Bones sit in the middle. I’d give this a 3.5 stars really. I think the book had some potential that wasn’t explored as much as it could have been. On the other hand, I did enjoy the character arcs and revelations as they worked their way into the narrative.

I liked the book, and I had a good time with it. At the same time, I don’t think I’ll carry on with the series though.

 

Surrounded by Idiots

In addition to Priest of Bones, I have listened to about 40% of Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson this week.

I recently attended a communication course at work that is based around the DiSC model. I appreciate this sort of thing isn’t for everybody, but I personally enjoyed the course. It gave some fairly useful tips on how to identify where conflict may arise as a result of personality types, and how we can work wiith that.

To build on that course, I decided to pick up Surrounded by Idiots. I had an idea that the book was based around a similar theme based on the cover, and I was right! Where is that course was mainly based around communication, the book deals with more behavioural elements, which of course communication comes into.

The book has proved a nice and easy listen so far. I’m building upon some foundation knowledge I already have, and the book is proving to be nicely sectioned to deal with certain types of personalities under a general theme. For example, one of the chapters I’m listening to at the moment is about the weaknesses of each personality type. This chapter is then broken down with an effective subheading for each type, and the book then gives detail about each one. This is a consistent approach throughout the book, and it’s one that works really well for me.

I’ve listened to this book whilst doing cleaning around the house, and even at lunchtime at work. I wanted to pick up audiobooks again in order to maximise the time I can spend reading. I can’t spend every minute of every day with my butt plonked on the sofa (as much as I would like to), and this book format is great for those times where I’m up and about!

 

Books Discovered

No news is good news once again this week!

 

Coming Up…

Next week, I have some exciting posts lined up for you.

Usually I share my first post on a Tuesday. However, as I’m planning to try and cut the grass in record time on Monday night (I’ll be competing with daylight after work), I’m giving myself a little bit more breathing space and publishing this post on Wednesday. I want to take my time and write it properly, because it is going to be a book review. The book in question is Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman.

On Friday, I plan to share my next First Lines Friday post. For this post, I am going to set myself a challenge. This is something I do periodically when I want to try and feature something different. For this week’s post, I am going to feature a book I intend to read by the end of the year (as a means of getting myself hyped about picking it up!)

On Sunday, well, you know what’s coming next. I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary post to catch up with all my latest reading updates.

I hope you can join me for each of those as and when they go live. In the meantime, I hope you have a fabulous week. I’m off to start The Puppet Maker; I’ll see you in the next post!

 

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Sunday Summary – 1st October 2023

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Good evening readers and welcome to this week’s Sunday Summary update. As always, I hope you’ve had a great week, however you’ve spent it?

It’s been a very busy one here, and that reflects my reading progress, which I’ll touch on later. As a brief recap of what’s been going on outside of my reading and blogging life, I spent a couple of evenings baking for a MacMillan coffee morning held at work. That event was really successful and definitely worth the hours in the kitchen… all five or six of them! As well, I was out with friends on Thursday evening, and hosting family on Saturday. I’ve had an unusual number of plans this week!

Around that, I squeezed in a book tag post on Wednesday. In that post, I touched upon my firsts of 2023. Coming up to the three-quarter mark in the year, it was nice to go back and recap some of my milestones of the year.

On Friday, it was the turn of the next instalment in my Shelf Control series. This weeks feature was a young adult novel by one of my favourite authors of all time!

 

Books Read

 

A Storm of Swords

Last week, I shared with you how my reading progress was down, and that I thought that was partly down to a lack of urgency as I was re-reading a book. That’s definitely the case this week again, although it has been compounded by the additional plans and obligations I’ve had!

In all, I’ve only read a couple more chapters of A Storm of Swords this week. Progress isn’t going great, and so yesterday I made the decision to pick up a book I haven’t read yet in the hopes that it would spur me back into reading. I’ll try reading the two books in tandem, but if necessary, I’ll make a call next week as to whether I set aside A Storm of Swords. It’s not like I haven’t read it already…

 

Priest of Bones

I’m not a fan of reading via the Kindle app on my phone, but that is how I started this book yesterday. That was for practical reasons; I was at my hairdressers and my phone is honestly the easiest way to take books with me for the appointment.

I managed to read the first three chapters of the book whilst I was there. I’m already a fan of the writing style and the characters, so we’ve got off to a good start here. I’m hoping this is the book that will give me a kick up the bum to get back on with reading. Failing that, I’ve got some reading obligations coming up – a deadline might be what I need!

 

Books Discovered

Having added a couple of books to the reading list last week, I’ve decided to behave and I’ve not added anything new this time!

 

Coming Up…

With the beginning of a new month, next week promises both my monthly wrap up post for September on Tuesday, as well as a brand-new reading list on Friday. Out of necessity, this month’s list is probably going to include some carryovers from September, as well as three books that I need to review before the end of the month as I’ve signed up to do so. I hope you’re as excited for those posts as I am!

You know the drill – I will round off the week with another Sunday Summary update.

Hopefully I’ll have considerably more news to share with you next week! Now that I’ve decided to change tack a little, and gotten through the period of other obligations, I’m optimistic for a better run next week. You’ll have to tune into next week Sunday Summary to find out if that is the case though!

Until then, I hope to see you in the next post.

 

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Shelf Control #70 – 29/09/2023

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Happy Friday fellow readers and welcome to today’s instalment in my Shelf Control series. In today’s post, I feature a young adult novel by an author I have come to know and love every book I’ve read of his so far. I’ve recently picked up a young adult series by this author, and I’m eagerly awaiting publication of the next instalment!

As always, let’s recap the premise of this post and then get into the details of the book!

Shelf Control is a regular feature on my blog – a meme run by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies. It’s a celebration of the unread books on our shelves! The idea is to pick a book you own but haven’t read and write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up!

If you want to read more about the Shelf Control feature, check out Lisa’s introductory post.

 

The Rithmatist – Brandon Sanderson

The Rithmatist

Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

Pages: 386

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Tor UK

Publication Date: 01 May 2014

 

 

Goodreads – The Rithmatist

More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles.

As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students learn the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing—kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery—one that will change Rithmatics—and their world—forever.

 

My Thoughts

One of my favourite things about Sanderson novels is that he grounds the magic systems built into his stories with some scientific element. I’m hoping that’s the case with this book as well. It is something he does very well, and even still, manages to do it in a unique way for each separate series!

Whilst young adult isn’t a genre I read all that much of, I still enjoyed the Skyward series, which has a similar audience to The Rithmatist. If this book is anything like that, then we can expect a lot of angst and a desire to prove oneself in the characters driving the narrative.

To date, I am yet to find a Sanderson book that I haven’t enjoyed! Given that I’ve read quite a few at this point, that is quite a feat. He is also a very diverse writer in terms of storylines and setting. I’m yet to find anything he hasn’t done well. I’ve already read and experienced great writing in a fantasy and science-fiction overlap, just as this book is.

I really can’t think of any reason why I should expect any different here!

Have you read The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson?

 

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